Wazzup Pilipinas!
I should have said Eh Di Wow! when the event hosts asked me for three words that best describes my expectations of the event. Instead I uttered, with the last word delayed for several minutes, "Online Business ..... Master."
It was the Tech Island 2.0 event of PLDT SME Nation held at Ocean Adventure in Subic, and said to be the biggest compared to the first, and boasted as the biggest tech event ever. The event was for two days, but the organizers arranged the presscon on the second day where "Mastering the Digital Wave was the focus tech talks and activities. Day 1 was all about Transformational Leadership in the Digital Era where a different set of speakers the likes of Rappler's Maria Ressa, PLDT's Napoleon Nazareno, Archbishop Tagle, and others shared their thoughts and inspirational stories. The second day was more for the tech gurus like Ideaspace's Earl Valencia, foodpanda's Mauro Cochieri, AGSX's Winston Damarillo and IDCs Roger Ling.
The bragging rights was probably based on the number of business owner participants who joined the event. A lot are now interested in implementing online and technology-based strategies in their business. A lot are starting to embrace the power of the Internet - blogs, social media, mobile apps, and just about everything else you can find online.
Yup, stage fright got the best of me when I was asked beyond introducing my name and organization. However, the opportunity to mention WazzupPilipinas.com infront of more than a thousand spectators was already worth the bother to try to win a smartphone - the tempting prize to participate in the game.
I still believe I gave the best answer but it seems the female specie always has the advantage of winning, or in this case, being chosen, among male competitors, by a majority of men that compose the audience.
It was also apparent that the audience followed a sympathetic urge to help the underdog win, since the lady obviously gave the weakest answer, copying some words from the other contestant, and being the last person to gave her three magic words.
I should have won. But it was still a numbers game. The audience was more energized to give the loudest claps and cheers to the last choice of the day. She won a smartphone, while two of us went down from the stage without any consolation prize.
But I was not all sad and lonely, for I believe I somewhat won something else from that short stint on the Tech Island 2.0 stage since people got to see and hear me out. A few of them recognized me and these individuals will hopefully remember me....and maybe contact me when they need a blogger for hire....or to go on TV as one of pour sponsors or guest for Wazzup Pilipinas TV which will soon be shown starting May 2 every Saturday from 8 to 9 pm on IBC 13.
A former colleague was there, new media acquaintances, and potential clients, who may avail of my services or collaborate with me on some projects soon.
This is one reason why I am not afraid to go up on stage and make a fool of myself, because eventually you'll reap the rewards of just a few minutes of shame.
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